To Be Continued
by Senryuu.Aisis
Summary: 'It was during sundown. Yozora had dismissed the entire club moments ago.' The two main female protagonists are thrown into the Little Garden, called to help out a community. A man convinces Sena she has powers and will help them unlock it, while Yozora just gets a headache from all of this nonsense. OCs involved. Possible pairings within.
1. To the Little Garden

It was during sundown.

Yozora had dismissed the entire club moments ago. Most of its club members had shuffled out the door enthusiastically, chattering and satisfied that nothing too hectic happened that day. The club room was emptied within a few seconds.

Well, with the exception of the club leader and her victim.

Sena was busy trying to find a save point, flustered that only the two of them were available in the room. Would she be bullied once more that day? What would Yozora do? The thoughts frightened her as she rushed through the visual novel's text.

"Hey."

Sena jumped. It was frightening to hear Yozora speak this calmly to her. Sweat rolling down her cheeks, the blonde slowly, mechanically turned her head in terror, trying to put on a brave smile against the bully. "Y-yes?"

Yozora was sitting on the table, arms and legs crossed daintily with an upset look on her face. She was tapping something on the table as she glared at her rival. "Did you leave this envelope on the table?"

Sena snapped out of her terrified trance quickly. _An envelope?_ Nothing had been left on the table, come to think of it, Yukimura, their butler, had quickly kept the tea-cups right before the dismissal of club activities. There shouldn't be anything –

"Oi, Meat!" Shock. "I asked a question, don't keep me waiting!"

"No, I didn't leave an envelope on the table! Why'd you think it was me anyway, jerk?" Now Yozora was mad. As in fuming mad. And so she crumpled the envelope in her hand, in anger. "God dammit Sena.." She mumbled, before speaking louder, her head tilted upwards in arrogance. "I only turned my back away for a moment and I saw it on the table, alright?! Jeez.."

'Meat' set her controller down on the carpet she sat on, before rising and moving towards Yozora. "You know, it could be anyone else's, maybe it's Rika's." The devil before her tilted her head, glaring at her. "How would you know that? You're just a lowly piece of _meat_." Sena was taken aback, yet Yozora's eyes suddenly lit up as if she had solved a riddle. "Wait, what if it's a.." She shot up, her hands fumbling, trying to open the envelope.

"Hey, don't insult me and then just forget about it!" 'Meat' rushed over to Yozora's side and peered over her arm as the demon took out the nicely printed piece of paper locked up it's envelope prison. "What's it say?"

_This letter is for those of you with many troubles and extraordinary powers._

_If you wish to see how far that power of yours will take you,_

_Cast aside your family, your friends, your possessions and come to our 'Little Garden'._

From the outside, the room starting shining bright rays of light through its windows. The shrieks of the two females could be heard from the courtyard, and the light disappeared as quickly as it came.

As the room dimmed, the letter, it's power now gone, floated down to the ground with the envelope.

And it rested there, knowing the few sentences it had were the last few the two students were ever going to read in that world.

_a/n:_

_.like most works i've done, i dont see this one surviving as long as even a month._

_.so keep that in mind when reading this story._

_.it might be a nice read, and I might enjoy writing it, but when i cant serve it anymore_

_.i truly apologize._

_.sincerely,_

_.dk._

_._

_.ps_

_.this dot thing is to help libre office stop detecting everything as capitals, the goddamn contraption_


	2. Where are we?

"AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The chorus of the two students' cries continued on even as they landed on the plush, pink king-sized bed. After continuously screaming for a few more seconds, Sena stopped panicking and tried to be rational. Not like she could, with her partner still screaming beside her, so snatching up the swatter from within Yozora's blazer, 'Meat' smacked her companion's left cheek harshly for a call to attention.

The club leader was awoken from her shock in a terrible way, and was found shaking with anger when her beloved swatter was _in that filthy meat's hands_. Curling up in a cat-like sitting position, she angrily shot back, "W-What's it to you Meat?!"

"I just wanted you to stop yelling, i-idiot!" Sena dropped the green swatter onto the bed, and it's owner quickly snatched it up, embarrassed. "S-Stupid Meat.. taking things without my permission.." The blonde only folded her arms under her chest and plopped herself down onto the bed on her side. The bed shook rigorously as both girls lied down upon the furniture.

"So, where do you think we are now?" Yozora, the devil, asking for her opinion? _Insane_. "How should I know?" Said devil stretched herself, arms out wide behind her, before getting herself to sit up on the edge of the bed. The entire room was pink, she had observed that, and there were multiple bookcases filled with figurines, few shelves actually filled with books.

The wall paper had a frilly design too, Yozora noticed, as she got up to examine the closest shelf of books in the hexagonal room. They were all thick, and had old casings to protect it. On it's side were characters she couldn't really read – mostly triangles with odd dots that occupied the inside or area around it. _Was there even such a language?_ The devil grumbled, moving onto examine the only desk, still pink, in the room.

There was a letter and an envelope, and a feather dipped in an inkwell placed beside it. She still couldn't make any sense of the language she just saw – more of it showed up on the letter too, and a small sigh escaped her. Turning her view to Meat's side, she realized the girl had already gotten up from her rest to examine the posters on the wall.

Each of it were well spaced and neatly hung, but what interested Yozora more was their only means of escaping the room – the large double door. It was nicely framed by the posters surround it, and it had an alluring Victorian style to it.. Not that Meat would care though, she was too busy examining the posters.

To a non-gamer like Yozora, the posters didn't mean much, but to Sena it mattered heavily. Each of the posters were _J-RPGs_, she'd recognized. All of which had a darker tone to it, and each one was breath taking. 'Meat' would occasionally stop to stare at one and appreciate it, as if she was visiting an art gallery.

On one of the posters, there was an entire city under the luminous green sky, with a gigantic moon lurking at the corner of the picture. A large tower, suggesting chaos and confusion was firmly standing, glowing green under the light of the moon. While on the foreground, the area was littered with coffins and the floor was pooled with blood. It didn't really matter to Sena that it suggested death – it looked cool and she wanted to play it.

As Sena was about to lower her head to check the name of the game, the doors next to her opened with a loud bang. She faltered, ever so slightly, and the two girls' attention was given to the cute boy at the door.

He wore an old stylish jacket over a bland tee shirt, his entire outfit colored with baby blue, white and black. A metal headgear piece was fixed above his fringe, and shield emblems were stitched onto his clothing. Hey – was that a sword and a skirt?!

'Meat' yelped for a moment, pointing at the male and mumbling about cross dressers, panicked and upset. The confused male could only blink twice before getting pushed out the room by the students. The two slammed the double door shut as the boy gave girly cries, pounding against the doors, trying to get in.

As the girls slumped down, Yozora sighed, and placed a hand against her forehead. It throbbed heavily, and annoyed, she slowly shuffled towards the bed. "I'm going to sleep, Meat. Don't wake me up," she said aloud, overshadowing the noise against the doors. The devil threw herself onto the bed, landing on it with a loud 'pomf' without a care in the world.

Sena couldn't help but smile. She watched the girl roll over on her side, huddling with her knees folded and her eyes closing together, a pout on her face to mark her feelings on the odd turn of events.

"Meat, what're you smiling at?"

"Huh?" The blonde hadn't really meant to smile, honestly. Innocently, she stared back at her club leader, who bashfully closed her eyes, mumbling about tainted meat.

At that moment, the door next to Sena flew open, the aforementioned male and what seemed to be his companions rushing into the room. Yozora groggily stared at the group of strangers, eyes half-closed and a frown on her face. "_Meat_, I told you not to wake me up."

"Who are you two?! And what're you doing in _my_ room?!" The club leader simply ignored the newly introduced team and closed her eyes, trying to return to her rest. All Sena could do was pray that Yozora would return from rest to help her out, while trying to stall for time with the strangers, hoping for another miracle. "W-Well, ahaha~ Uhm.."

"We were thrown in here from a letter sent to us. Now if you excuse us, please leave the room."

"R-Right! I-It wasn't really our fault we got in here. We were just dropped in!" The known male and what seemed as his sister looked confusingly at each other. The light-blue haired man standing behind them only sighed and rolled his eyes, his arms folded at chest level with an annoyed expression. The siblings then turned to their senior.

"Zero, did you know anything about this?"

"Why was the destination my room?!"

"Dammit, how would I know?" 'Zero' darkly muttered under his breath. The blonde only stared at them, puzzled, as the man continued to converse with the siblings. "And Kitsumi already told us she was bringing in people for assistance. But youdidn't pay attention, _did you,_" he scolded, an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, that's not my fault entirely!" The brother raised a fist in determination. "Daily meetings always last a long time for no reason, and we've grown accustomed to the fact that we don't pay attention during them! Isn't that right, Ven?!"

'Ven' nonchalantly stared back at his sister, arms folded. "Actually that's only you, Sen."

"What?!" 'Sen' was taken aback, sadness and anger shown on his face. 'Meat' stood there, feeling awkward with a doubtful grin on her face. _Was she off the hook now? Who are these people? What's with the odd names?!_

"Guys, if you're really going to argue please stand aside."

"Stay out of this Zero! I've got a score to settle!"

"H-HEY!"

The teenagers standing jumped, and cowardly turned their heads over to the annoyed 'devil subordinate' sitting on the bed, cross-legged, hunched over and cheek on her palm. "If it didn't occur to any of you, I'm trying to take a break here! Would you please keep it down or get out?!" Zero stared at her with his own annoyed expression, giving a small 'hmph'.

"Well excuse me, Sleeping Beauty, but this _is_ my room!"

"Knock it off Sen." The spiky headed 'baby-sitter' placed a black and blue gloved hand on the black-haired male. "If you really want to fight it out then take it outside." He then pulled the boy out by the back of his collar, leaving him frustratedly trying to struggle from his 'nanny's grasp. As the males left the room, Ven gave Sena a sheepish smile and rubbed her short black hair. "Sorry about that. My sister's a troublesome one."

_Sister_? Maybe she really wasn't a cross dresser after all. "Uh, it's fine, really."

Holding the door handle, Ven politely gestured the way out. "We should take this discussion elsewhere, your friend seems to really need her rest." Both of their eyes turned towards Yozora, whose face was buried in the pillows as she lied face-down on the bed. With a look of pity and her attention still diverted, Sena gave a murmur of agreement and slowly made her way out with Ven.

The doors slammed shut softly, and in a few seconds Yozora turned her head towards the exit, feeling hesitant, upset and distant.


	3. Sudden Snow

"So, you're telling me we were brought here to help you guys?"

"That's right."

"But we honestly have no powers!"

"That's a lie."

"No, rea-!"

"I can sense the power from you."

Sena bit her lip, trying to come up with a rebuttal. She quickened her pace to match Zero's as they continued down the circular wooden hallway. The male was looking down, arms folded, letting his large, oversized collar cover his mouth and his short sleeves rimmed with blue bounced up and down. "I'm telling you, we really don't have any special powers!"

"That's what Ven said too." 'Meat's frustrated glare turned to the back of the sisters. Both of them were angrily yelling at the top of their voices as they strolled down the hall, but from a far distance she couldn't hear their words clearly. "But they're here." She stared at them in disbelief, watching Ven's blue tie bounce visibly from her small chest, noting that the brown bow and quiver she had strapped on her back contrasted the color of her outfit she wore.

The cream-colored shorts also added to her charm, but Sena realized it didn't match her rather passive personality back in the room. _And those odd brown boots.. _"The twins came from a world like yours too. Ven used to be a delinquent, his sister told me." _His_? "But he'd always return home badly bru-"

"W-Wait, so.." Sena stopped and hunched over, confused. Raising a shaky finger, she pointed at the twins. "Ven's not a female?"

"Huh?"

Zero, who stopped with her, looked down upon the bewildered girl in shock. A brief moment of silence occurred, before Sena looked back at him and his gloved palm reached his face as he looked away. "I.. Oh god."

"Wha – What's that supposed to mean."

"I keep forgetting you're new.." The man sighed, before shaking his head and raising it up. "It's not your fault. Everyone thought Ventus was a female before Sen explained it. And his expertise with a bow only enforced that thought.." Rubbing his forehead, Zero started walking again, leaving Sena to walk briskly after him.

"And.. Sen's not a cross dresser?" Zero opened an eye to stare at her. "That's a first."

"She had a more masculine build!"

"She's a warrior, of course she'd be masculine."

"Huh? But.."

"I know it's confusing, but we've all gotten used to it."

Sena folded her arms under her chest, pouting. "Then how do I tell them apart?" Zero quickened his pace as he climbed down the stairs, and the blonde followed. "Senryuu's got that headpiece of hers on all the time. And if she looks like a girl, it's probably Ventus."

"That.. sounds harsh."

"Ventus doesn't cross dress."

"That doesn't even link to my question."

"Sorry." The male started taking larger strides as he got off the last step. "Quicken your pace, we're gonna be late."

By this point, Sena was left jogging behind Zero. With constant breaths, she questioned, "Late for what?"

"YAHOOOOO!"

'Meat' broke out into a run as the duo turned round the bend. From the corner of her eye she could see the floor – covered in pure, white snow, staining the polished wooden walls and carpet. Looking up at Zero as they stopped, the look on his face showed him preparing for the worst as he adjusted the black headband on his head.

As if on cue, a cute girl with spiky orange hair that framed the top of her forehead came sliding through the snow on a red sled and onto the carpet the duo were standing on. Tailed behind it were the twins, holding onto the edges of the sled and screaming in fear as it bumped shakily onto a different ground. The sled came to a halt as it reached an arm's length away from Zero and Sena.

Sitting on the front seat was the girl with a huge grin and – large, exaggerated fox ears?! Sena stared in disbelief as she watched them twitch fervently as she initiated a conversation with the man beside her while dusting off snow from her black leather jacket and grey shirt.

"What took you so long?! I managed to convince the twins to ride with me in the snow!"

"More like kidnapped and forced them to ride with you! How'd you even get the snow in?!"

"What?" She shrugged, showing off her black fingerless arm gloves. "That was easy, I opened the window!"

"Kitsumi!"

Peering behind the fox-girl, she could see the bodies of the twins hanging from the edge of the back of the sled. Soft, tired groans could be heard from them even as the seniors argued with each other.

"It's no big deal, you can always use your fire magic to melt it!"

"Yeah, but it'll dampen the carpet."

"Your fire magic also works on drying the carpet too, y'know."

"Why do I have to fix your mess?!"

"Well, you could always get one of the newer folk to do it! Call it 'Training of skill' or something like that!"

"Dammit Kitsumi!"

Leaning onto her palm now, Kitsumi smirked at Zero, who was clenching his fists in anger, before turning her attention to Sena, giving her a sense of uneasiness. "Hey, did you hear that?" She waved at the blonde. "You can practice by drying the carpets!" _Is this girl for real?_

"Don't tell me what to do!" Sena cried out, but was quickly ignored by the other girl. "Oh, but that'll be a waste of good snow," Kitsumi looked down, with a look of unhappiness. "It's not everyday you get to sled on snow indoors." Zero then smacked his face with his palm once more. "Please excuse her," he mumbled, gritting his teeth."She's really troublesome."

"Hey, that's mean!" Kitsumi pouted, before smiling back at 'Meat'. "Hi there! I'm Kitsumi, what's your name?"

"I'm.. Sena.. Hey wait, don't tell me what to do!"

"Huh? But I just asked for your name."

"Y-Yeah, but you told me to clean up the snow as practice!"

"But it's a good way to practice magic, no?"

She'd wanted to speak, but magic? There's no arguing with that. Or at least she didn't know how to. Kitsumi's ears and her tail suddenly pricked up, as if something bad had happened. "Wait, wasn't there someone else with you?"

"Uh, yeah, but she has a headache."

"She's currently resting in Senryuu's room," interrupted Zero.

"I see.." Kitsumi said, her facial expression hardening for a moment. Looking down, she blinked twice, before grinning again. "I should go meet her!"

"No, don't, you'll wake her up."

The girl in black shot up, slamming her palms onto the front of the sled."But I really wanna meet her!"

"You can meet her later, when she's _awake_."

"_Fiiine_." The fox girl fell back onto the bench, her arms folded. "What's her name then?"

"Don't ask me, ask the blonde."

"Huh?" _The blonde? _"Oi, it's Sena! And the girl resting is Yozora."

"_Yozora_, huh?" Kitsumi smirked. Sena felt her eye twitch. _This girl really likes smiling a lot. _"Sounds like a magician to me."

"A magician?"

"Yeah! A mage, like Zero here!"

"I prefer the term _Shaman_, thank you."

"Killjoy. Hey, help me carry these two into the Library. It's warmer there." Zero rolled his eyes and strolled over to the sick twins as the fox jumped out of the sled and beckoned her to follow. Examining her suit, Sena realized she didn't really have pants – or any visible shorts, just a really oversized jacket and shirt, along with black stockings. No shoes either; how could she stand the cold?

"Hey, you coming in or not?" Kitsumi held the door open as the male strolled into the room, the twins hung over his shoulders. Sena nodded, and quickly ran into the room, joining the strangers in the Library.


	4. Mental, Emotional, Rational

Zero slowly lowered Sen onto a brown leather couch by the collar. _Ruthless, _she thought, as she watched him lower down Ven into a sitting position. "You really did a number on them this time," he muttered, pulling back the rounded cuffs on the gloves that protected his wrists. He then started dusting off his shirt, attempting to flatten it out, especially at the large blue glowing 'O' that plastered the black cloth.

"Why don't you sit down and have some tea?" Turning around, she found herself met with a cup on a saucer being held in front of her.

"Uh.." Silently taking the white porcelain teacup, she nodded politely to Kitsumi, who pulled out a polished wooden chair, cushioned red, and gestured for her to sit. She placed down the cup on the large, Victorian table, and as she listened to Kitsumi hum a tune, she sat down and took a sip of the red tea. _Earl grey_, the girl noted, as she continued to drink and survey the library.

It was furnished with brown polished bookcases – in fact polished wooden seemed to be the very essence of this building's style. The shelves were filled with mostly green-spine books, streaked with golden yellow labels and decorations. Sena reached out at the bookshelf behind her to take one, leaning against the chair, tilting it.

Zero pushed the girl's chair back onto the ground and with his finger, tilted the top of a book for her. The blonde wanted to protest, but whilst search for the words, the man raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed and nodded, looking back at her tea cup as he placed it on the table and pulled out a chair for himself.

"You shouldn't be able to read this book though," he noted, sitting down on his chair as the blonde picked it up. "It's a historical record of the Little Garden. The language inscribed in it is magical hieroglyphics." Surely enough, the book title in golden looked as if they were part of a summoning circle. The girl took another sip of the Earl grey and placed the book back down on the table.

"You know Zero, you shouldn't sit like that," Kitsumi advised, placing an olive-grey plastic tray down on the table, with two teacups sitting on saucers and a teapot. Looking back at the male, he had hunched his back slightly towards the table, legs crossed on the cushion of the chair. Underneath the table, the rimming of his pants and boots glowed bright blue in the midst of the darkness. "Can't help it."

"Well then, let me just do this!" The fox girl grinned, and as Sena lifted her head to look towards her, she flinched. A teacup and saucer were being thrown at her. She yelped and lifted her arms, bracing for impact, but it never hit her. Opening an eye and peeping through her defense, she saw that it was engulfed in blue, non-luminous flames, floating in mid-air in front of her. As she lowered her arms, she glanced back at Zero, watching him with his eyes closed, looking downwards.

_It was so tense in the room, she felt like sweating._

The male said nothing, but the blobs of tea engulfed in flame had floated down into the tea cup gently and the saucer returned to hold the cup. The flames rejoined as they came into contact with each other, and the set was slowly brought over to Zero's side of the table. He raised his head to sip at it, arms folded, as Sena gripped the edge of the table, obviously still shaken.

The set of porcelain in flames landed on the table with a loud clink, showing that it was void of tea. Then Zero slammed his fist on the table.

"What the hell Kitsumi! That was our finest supply of Earl Grey Tea!"

_That's what he was mad about?!_

Her head turned towards the fox girl, whose laughter erupted since Zero's fist hit the table. She wasn't visible to the two, but giggling, Sena could see her arm rise from below the table. With a big smile, the girl slowly got up, grinning. "C'mon Zero, lighten up; we have a guest!"

"Guest or no guest, it took me time to get that Earl Grey!"

"Fine! I admit I got more today, keep your pants on!"

"Grh!" The male clenched his teeth once more, but with no more left to say, he silently withdrew back into his collar, looking away from his friend. The girl giggled a little more, but Sena was curious. "Kitsumi, why'd you like to anger him so much?"

"Huh?" The girl's giggling died down, and she turned to the blonde. "It's nothing much, more like a way of noting each others presence."

"Yeah, well maybe for you it is," she heard Zero mumble.

"Anyway, that was a demonstration of magic!" _She could tell, thanks_. Kitsumi placed her hands on the table and leaned in towards Sena. "What'chu think, huh?"

"W-Well.." The girl was speechless, honestly. _After getting tea thrown in their faces, who wouldn't be?_ "It's.. pretty impressive?"

"Exactly!" The enthusiastic girl pointed rapidly towards the blonde, making her squirm a little in her seat. "And the two of you are going to unlock your powers by training with us!"

"B-But.." Sena was puzzled. How could she phrase it? "W-We never agreed to this!"

"Huh?" Kitsumi retracted her arm.

"I m-mean, the letter you supposedly sent us.. it just teleported us here. We didn't decide on casting aside our valuables!"

There was a moment of silence, before the fox girl sighed and retracted herself from the table, falling back onto the chair behind her.

"So you remembered.."

"Huh?"

Kitsumi curled up into a fetal position, her head buried behind her legs. "Sorry." S_he looked as if she'd been punished._. "..The truth is, it was an instant teleportation. You never really had a decision in the matter."

"W-Wait.."

"I'm sorry.. we really need your help." Sena watched Zero's collar move slightly as his voice drawed her attention. "Yeah. We're looking for recruits to help rebuild our guild."

"But.." Turning her head back, she realized the girl was shaking and trembling. "Because of a massacre game, we've been run down by a fearful creature," the girl's voice quivered. "We.. we never really got a choice either.."

Sena could feel the sadness radiating from Kitsumi and the sheer coldness from Zero. The silence hung between them as she looked down at her lap, deciding.

"I really need to go home too.." She could hear a yelp from the fox lady, and when she looked up, she noticed she was in an immobilized state. Zero slowly got up from his seat and walked towards his companion, placing a hand on her shoulder and engulfing her in the magical flames, and slowly levitating her limp, shaking body. He looked towards Sena with a sad expression, yet she knew she was asked to follow.

The blonde slowly left her seat, running around the table to meet the man's back as he walked away with Kitsumi's body in a fetal position. Falling behind his steps, they came to a door at the back of the Library. "Don't touch the door," he instructed, pulling up the bar lock that held the door closed. He pulled the door open with magic, flames consuming the metallic handle. Kitsumi's body was thrown inside, and the door was quickly closed and locked again.

"Wait, what did you-"

"The room behind me," he started, leaning against the door, "Is soundproof."

"What happened to-"

"Kitsumi's trying to control her emotions within her. Let her get them out alone." _Is that even the right way to treat someone? _"But-"

"I know, it's inhuman to do this," he crossed his arms angrily. "But it was personally asked by her, since the guild was created." They kept quiet for a moment as the two glanced at the door, an inaudible thrashing and screaming noise filling the silence between them. Finally, Zero turned towards Sena.

"There's no way to get you home, you know."

"Wh-huh?!"

"I'm going to be blunt here. There's no way to get any of you home."

"I heard that! What do you mean-"

"It was a one way trip we paid for, and there's no money for sending any of you back."

"But-"

"So I suggest-"

"HEY!"

He closed his eyes, bracing for any impact. Sena was rooted to the ground, shaking in anger, furious. "Let me speak once in awhile!" He stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed.

"I'm listening."

"Why did you bring us here if there was no return trip back?! Why us?! Did any of you even think about us for a second?!" _Son of a bitch! We never asked for this! Let us go home, dammit! Papa will be mad, everyone –!_

_Everyone will be left behind._

".. Sorry."

"..."

Sena slowly slumped down onto her knees as she landed on the carpet floor, defeated. "D-Dammit.."

"If it helps, you can hit me."

"Nngh.." _Tempting offer, but I can't –_

"I'm an impenetrable force. Go on."

_H-hah, I'll just lose energy over it._ But she got up anyway.

"I won't mind. I promise." Staggering with an overwhelming sadness, the girl tossed herself against Zero, as if to hit his chest with her head. The girl collided with the man, as if hitting against a solidly hard pillow. _It hurts. It hurts but it helps._

The blonde rebounded against his chest, and was knocked back. She steadied herself, and looked back up at the man; he hadn't changed his posture one bit. Dashing in once again, the girl slammed her side back into Zero, and he finally flinched, but slightly. _It hurts, doesn't it?_

Stumbling, Sena managed to remain upright clumsily. _Maybe if I hit him hard enough, I'll knock myself out. _The girl scoffed, and ran up to him, a tight fist ready to aim for his face.

Impact, and she swore she could hear the sound of bones breaking. Either way, it brought the man down onto the ground with a huge thud. She heard him coughing and spluttering, but she was out of strength to stand upright anyway, and tumbled down onto the carpet with him.

"I.." The man broke out into a cough again, and spoke in a strained voice. "I haven't had a blow like that in years."

_Well then, you deserve it. For picking on the wrong people to be your minions._

Zero collapsed onto the floor. A blue flame flickered above him noisily, with a soft humming sound. All Sena did was pant heavily – the blows really took the wind out of her.

There was a moment of silence once more, except from the repetitive screamed apologies from behind the door.

_'I'm sorry, I'm sorry..' Is that really all you have to say? _The girl quietly closed her eyes as she tried to regain her breath once more.


	5. Let's Just Accept The Facts

"Hey, you're still awake, aren't you."

The male didn't move, but only made a sound of agreement. The flame was then abruptly extinguished, the humming stopping as well.

"Figured as much."

The man slowly climbed back onto his feet, as if the blows never happened. _The guy really is inhuman, huh. _Zero then strolled over to Sena, bending down and offering a hand to help her up. _And he can't read their body language too; I'm too tired to take that hand._

But the hand stayed there for moments to pass.

_Idiot._

And the hand then moved towards the area right below her collar, above the chest. A bright light consumed her vision, and she had to close her eyes, unable to withstand the intensity of it. A wave of relief rushed over her, filling her with strength once again, but Sena had no plans of getting up from her spot on the floor.

"You feel better now?"

"Yeah."

"You.. wanna get up?"

_Pause – her answer was hesitant._

"No."

"Alright then," and she felt another presence sitting beside her. Opening her eyes once more, she realized Zero was right beside her, leaning by the door. He looked behind her continuously, and she slowly clambered to sit on the carpet. The tea sets slowly floated down towards them, emerged in blue flame yet again. The teapot poured some of the drink into their cups, and they floated down towards each person.

Sena slowly took a sip of the Earl grey tea and placed down her cup onto the saucer that had just landed on the carpet. She felt like she should say something, as if her guardian's observance pressured her into something.

"So," she started, as she watched the male drink his tea in silence. "I guess I really have to resign to my fate, huh?" A laugh would have meant something there; she wanted to, _but she couldn't bring herself to do so. _Zero let out a sigh after drinking, and the cup slowly floated down onto the saucer on the carpet, on the spot beside him. "I don't see it in that way."

_Well, of course you don't –_

"I mean, you'd be working for us, but you'd be working for your money to return home too."

"Huh?" _So there was a way home!_

_.. No, wait, there always was. _"I mean, it's our fault we got you into this mess. So we should get you out of it."

_And since we're a part of them now, we'd be working towards our freedom!_

"Then, is working difficult for you?" Zero took a sip of from his cup once again, before letting the cup hover in the air. "Not necessarily."

"It's kind of like a betting game, where you bet your power against others in hopes for the prize."

"But I don't have any power." _Like I've said before._

"That's where I come in. I can teach you to reach into your potential pool and allow you to control it under my trainings."

_Sounds easy enough. _"And this training.."

"It's not that difficult, or at least I don't think so."

"Meaning.."

"It gets easier over time. You can experience it tomorrow morning, if you don't put up a big enough fuss."

_Hmph._

"Besides, you might grow to like it here. I'm sure Sen and Ven would be happy with new friends."

_F-Friends?_

"After all, they've come to rely on each other for everything in life. They're each others only companion."

"And they're content with that?"

"They look like it, but to be honest, they've always looked a little lonely, even when they're together."

_So they don't have friends too, huh?_

"..."

The male drank from his cup once more, and Sena turned her attention to the sleeping, worn out twins that lied on the couches.

"I think I'll do it."

Zero continued drinking from his cup, as if he wanted to know more.

"I've always wanted friends," she continued, fidgeting with the edges of her teacup. "Yozora and I.. We don't have any back in the world we came from."

The man let out a loud gasp as he finished his drink, and let the cup settle on the saucer on it's own. "I see."

"So.."

"So now, we break the news to Kitsumi."

"Wait, what?" The man slowly got up, bringing the tea sets on the ground to a near-by table. "But you told me that your friend was emotionally unstable and you had to lock her up in there!"

"The noise has stopped. I'm pretty sure it's safe."

_How would you – _But the man had already started to remove the lock, and Sena quickly scrambled back up, standing by the door to see the insides of the room.

The metallic door creaked eerily as it opened, and peering inside from behind the door, Sena could make out nothing but eternal darkness. Suddenly, she heard a soft, whimpering sound, as if from some sort of animal.

_Well, I get that Kitsumi's a fox, sure. But.. _Zero slowly stepped inside the room, his hand lighting up in the blue flame he controlled. Palm upright, he surveyed the room, before walking in a general direction. From the corner of her eye, she could see the areas of the room being lit up by the man, and as he approached his destination, she could see a small, orange fox with the same exaggerated ears cowardly hiding in the corner of the room.

She could hear him murmur about something, and when he finally got up from his kneeling position to meet with the fox, it gave a small 'yip' as it stood on it's paws. The man exited the room, the fox tailing his footsteps from behind in a light hearted behavior. The blonde stepped back from her hiding position, and helped the man close the door. "She's alright now, but I think she'd like to stay in this form for awhile."

"I see." The bar dropped down, locking the door into place.

* * *

A/N : Okay.

So this is where I've written till.

And I've been trying to fit everything I've wanted together.

It's pretty difficult to considering the new episode.

I've kind of got this thing against Sena now.

But, y'know.

Whatever.

So hit that like/favorite/watch/whatever button to bookmark this story if you like it.

I don't know, I've been gone for too long.

I may not continue it, so just favorite it and come back in a month or so.

Or something.

Whatever.


	6. Information that cannot be Utilized

_Demon Lords are powerful foes – be wary when encountering one. However obvious it may be, one must remember to keep in mind that gift games proposed by Demon Lords cannot be refused, and rules are often settled to be in their favor instead._

Yozora felt her eyes twitch. She had fallen asleep, sure, but woke up minutes later and couldn't find herself sleeping since then. After searching the room for something to do, she found a stack of comprehensible books hiding under the desk, cleverly hidden behind the multiple stacks of odd-language books. Multiple naughty magazines too; her face blushed slightly at the sight of them, but she ignored them and continued on searching the pile.

And she found an introduction guide to the world she now knew as the 'Little Garden' – that outsiders with powers were usually brought in for the sake of enjoying themselves. The strong, weak and unique all gathered here, with various ages and sizes. She thought back to school and how no one else there was brought here; _not Rika, the genius inventor, nor Kodaka, her childhood friend that everyone feared_. Sighing, she would flip through the pages and distract herself with the printed images before reading the book once again.

She did so once again, and for the third time a note fell out of the book. The previous times were footnotes on different creatures and inhabitants of the land, but this one was folded neatly. Picking it up, she folded the top-right corner of the page she had stopped on, leaving the book on the table as she inspected the note.

Unfolding the piece of yellow paper, she could see that it was written in pencil;

_The stars lean down to kiss you  
And I lie awake and miss you  
Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere_

_How odd, _she thought. To her, it looked like a piece of literacy, but lyrics or poetry she couldn't tell. But she felt inspiration spur through her, and she quickly picked up the feather dipped in the ink pot, dabbing its tip by the pot's edge and scribbling down the words that came to mind.

_Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly  
But I'll miss your arms around me  
I'd send a postcard to you, dear  
Cause I wish you were here._

Satisfied with her work, she smiled and left the note drying on the table, picking up the book once again. Flipping to the page she had bookmarked, she noticed a footnote written in pencil at the left edge of the page –

_affected Takeru Resolution_

Takeru Resolution. The only word that stood out was 'Takeru' – where was it from? It was so familiar, had she learned it in class?

"Takeru, Takeru.." _Heck with it. _She tried to ignore the word itself, and continued on with the book. It still haunted her though, and occasionally she would glance off the paragraph she was reading to see if she could recall it.

_Not all Demon Lords are evil; one such being wields unimaginable power, yet their affinity is up to the being itself. Having said that, a documented Floor Master, Shiroyasha, is also known to be a Demon Lord. Known as the strongest protector of the circle, she raises the sun daily and runs an exchange shop._

"_And even though a Demon Lord holds a large amount of strength, their power is not limited to only that.._"

A loud thud. Yozora quickly shifted her attention towards the door. The man carried the twins over his shoulders, a leg sticking out; he kicked the door open, didn't he?

"You're finally up."

And she just glared at him in suspicion. Zero felt her gaze to be unpleasant; she could tell after a moment. "You're a quiet one, aren't you?"

No response from her. She watched the male as he sighed and walked over to the bed, bringing both of them off his shoulders at a go. Yozora flinched – It looked like it'd hurt, but observing their faces she realized they were unconscious already. She set down the book on it's pages on the table as she heard the man dust off his shirt.

"Well, if you're not going to say anything, I'll be off."

"Wait."

Zero stuffed his hands into his pockets, turned towards the door. "So Little Miss Sleeping Beauty finally speaks."

_Tch. _Her mouth formed a snarl and she folded her arms, angry. "Cut the nickname out."

The man turned his head towards her, his stance unchanging. "Fine, but we'll need to have a talk later." Not like it mattered, she had been longing for answers in the first place. But she felt like she could push it. "And what makes you so sure I'll obey?"

The male merely turned his gaze towards the door, and took a few steps. _W-Wait, wrong move_. "Alright, I get it! We'll talk!"

"I said later. Your friend's still trying to get used to it here." _Friend?_ She hadn't any friends. "Who?"

"The blonde, who else?" Taking his right hand out, he took hold of the door's handle and shut the door on his way out.

Yozora just stood there, biting her lower lip.


	7. Acceptance

_Knock, knock._

It was sundown. She lifted her head up, leaning on the hand on the plush bed. Anxious, she stayed there, gripping the pink blanket that covered the mattress. _Is it fine if I just play passive here?_

The knocks came again, and as she hesitated, she swore she could hear the tapping of feet on the ground and a loud sigh. Yozora rose, letting the blanket go from her palm. The door opened, leaving the girl panicked. The sound of shuffling began as Zero walked into the room, hands in his pockets – i-is that a fox?!

"Hm?" The man shifted his attention to the girl from the ground, and Yozora snapped out of her dazed trance from the animal. She turned her head away in silence, expressing discomfort in her actions. "I guess it's natural, since you haven't met her yet." Her eyes slowly shifted to the man, but looked down instead when she felt fur circling around her legs. The fox was pacing around her in alertness, ears twitching.

"U-Uhm.."

"That's Kitsumi. She's harmless." The fox started pawing against her stockings, reaching up for her thighs. The girl lowered down to reach for the animal's head, scratching her gently as she curiously tried to sniff her. "She has the ability to transform into a fox and is actually human." Yozora took a seat on the floor and started adoring Kitsumi from a closer distance. "She's so cute! I guess you decided to transform temporarily, huh?"

The fox just barked once, and the girl gave her a genuine smile. Bringing Kitsumi close, she cuddled with it momentarily, and as she let go the fox gave her a reassuring lick. "Good to know you're both feeling better."

"Us? Did something happen to her?" Zero sighed as he sat down on the bed, hunched over. "It's a long story. You shouldn't worry about it though."

"Mhmm." The girl continued to listen to the man as she stroked Kitsumi on the back. "Where should I begin.. Uh.."

"Why was I brought here?"

He turned his head, burying his mouth in his collar. A confused girl stared back at him, and at her side was the fox, burying her snout under the bed, as if trying to hide something. The man blinked, shifted his body into a cross-legged position, and began to speak.

"We require your assistance for our own needs. There's no chance of going back home."

".. Wait. What?"

A moment of silence hung between the three of them. Yozora's expression changed from alarmed to disbelief, before calming down to a thoughtful look. Then she spoke, "What do you need help with?"

"A shortage of manpower. A great massacre involving our guild whittled our forces down."

"Couldn't you fight back?"

"Rules were stacked against us. However, we had no decision in the participation."

"Recruit locals?"

"Most people have guilds, or prefer to be alone. No mercenary would help under low costs as compared to inviting strangers."

Kitsumi withdrew her snout and barked, before turning to the girl.

"Why me? No, why us?"

The man exchanged glances with the fox, before focusing back to Yozora.

"We sense greater potential within both of you. For the small amount of money it takes to invite someone over, high potential candidates are ideal."

"And there's no way of returning home?"

Silence.

".. There is."

"Then-"

"We can't afford it."

Another moment of silence. Yozora groaned.

".. I see."

Her face started twitching as her aura tensed around her. Kitsumi rose from her position and slowly strutted away from the girl, ears nervously shaking. She leaped onto the bed with ease, and lied down next to Zero. They exchanged looks again, before he decided to voice out

"We're desperate. Please consider our offer and provide aid."

"..."

It felt more like annoyance emanating from her aura after the man spoke. But soon the girl rose up, completely calm.

"Since you really require our assistance that much, shouldn't you show some respect to me?"

The fox yipped. His gaze hardened.

"It can't be that hard. Just ask me in a polite manner is all."

"..."

Careful as not to nudge the twins, he slid off the edge of the bed, kneeling on the carpet floor to brace impact before standing up. Slowly striding over to the surprised commander, her arms crossed, the man stopped a few steps away from her, before sliding into a pose of submission, his left arm on his knee.

"Please, help us in rebuilding our community."

"A-ah.."

The fox rapidly scrambled from the base of the bed and scampered over to her companion, setting herself to lie down in front of the commander. She whined, a sound Yozora made out to be a plead, before lowering her head to rest on the carpet. The confused girl stood there, struck with realization, before grinning.

"Guess I'll have no choice but to help you then. Rise."

Zero slowly stepped up, hiding his face in his collar, before stepping forth over to the female.

"Eh? Zero-"

He embraced her, shaking.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for co-operating with us."

Yozora just returned the hug, less in understanding and more in pity as she watched as the fox bounce happily up and down, barking to its hearts delight.


	8. Right before bedtime

_Our training begins at dawn. Rest until then._

So she had been lying down on the bed all the while. The girl tried to get some sleep, but the land of dreams wouldn't come to her; she was too troubled. The room was nearly barren too, with a blue-gray wall and dark-blue carpet, there was only a dark-orange bed, a table and a chair. How anyone could live her was beyond unfathomable to her.

A knock came at the door and the girl shot up. It opened with a click, and a female peered in – black hair and eyes, blue uniform-

"Uhm.. is it okay if I come in?"

It was Ven.

"Y-Yeah! Sure.."

The boy entered the room, closing the door behind him. He slowly made his way over to the desk.

"You're Ventus, right?"

The male bent down, looking under the bed now. The sound of paper being handled could be heard as Sena watched his back. "Yeah. Did Zero introduce me for you?"

"Yeah.."

_Well, that conversation fell short._

"Ah, are you really a boy?"

"A-Again?" Ventus hit the back of his head against the wooden bed frame, and yelped in pain as he tried to rub over it.

"Oh! I'm sorry, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah! I'm.. just fine.. Owww.."

Ventus slowly scrambled back out from under the bed, holding a piece of paper in his hand. "I'm most definitely male, thank you." He sat down right beside the girl at the edge of the bed, still clutching the paper in his hand. "I'm a musician too. Are you going to be using this room?"

"Huh?"

"Uh, you know. Sleeping."

_Did Zero say anything about this?_

".. I'm not too sure myself."

"Alright then." The boy set his paper on the bed, before getting off of it and bending down, rummaging under the table.

"You sure have a lot of stuff hidden."

His hand grabbed something wooden, she could tell, for he hit it against the chair. Slowly, she watched the boy carry out what seemed to be an acoustic guitar. "It's a way to be crafty. My sister does it too, but don't tell her I said that." Ventus chuckled, as he returned to the bed with the instrument. The bed shook violently as he jumped back onto it. "We're from another world, just like you two."

_You two. _"I sing songs back from where we came from, share the music here." The boy slowly inspected the guitar. "Of course, we don't make money off of them."

"So it's a hobby?" She felt her hands fidgeting with the paper.

"I guess. We accept donations though. Sometimes people just hand out cash to us." He carefully tuned the instrument. "Sen thinks they're asking us to leave the streets though," the boy chuckled once more.

_Maybe this guy really hasn't any friends. He's being awfully friendly.._

Ven picked up the paper from the bed, _Meat_ letting it slip through her fingers. The boy seemed to scan through the letter, before setting it down yet again and placing his hands on the guitar. As he was about to strum a note -

_Knock knock._

Both heads turned. _Who could be knocking at this hour? _The door opened, revealing a set of jet black eyes staring into the room. It's Sen.

"U-Uh.. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.." She muttered in an irritated voice.

"No worries. It's just the blondie."

"B-Blondie?!" _Excuse me, I have a name! _"It's Sena. Sena!"

"Huh?" She stared at her, surprised. "But that's just my name with an 'A'! What the-"

"Hey, it's not like I asked for this!"

"Sen! Sen. Um.. what were you here for?" Ventus had nervously attempted to change the subject.

"Oh, right." His sister switched over to a calmer mood. She pulled out a note from the inside of her jacket. "I think someone scribbled something onto the lyrics for the unfinished song. You should take a look at it."

"Alright. Toss it." The male didn't even attempt to catch the flying note, for his sister was accurate enough to toss it onto his guitar. Without haste, he started unfolding the note.

"Speaking of which," Sena's head turned towards the other female. "It's been decided that you should sleep in my room."

"Wait, weren't you against it earlier on?"

Sen rolled her eyes. "Well, having two uninvited strangers over does freak the average person out more than usual." She pushed open the door, revealing a luggage on wheels. "At least I have my personal stuff in here now, so you'll be fine in my room. No freaking out, I promise."

"If you say so." The girl let out an audible yawn and stretched, causing the black-haired girl to laugh. "Looks like someone's sleepy."

"Y-yeah.." She rubbed her eyes slowly, before standing up and bidding farewell to the two siblings.

* * *

A/N (29/5/13):

So I realized there was an error for the first part of the story. I think. It seemed that way.

Uh. Vol 9 isn't out yet. I'm still sad.

Also, imo people aren't reading this because I said pairings. Whoops.

What else?

I can't remember. Train of thought just crashed again and there were no survivors.

Tons of casualties though.

Yet again, your feedback does motivate me. I also write this according to how I feel, so there's one thing ; if I lose interest, I do apologize.


	9. An Argument

"Wait – I'm supposed to share a room? With you?"

"Seems like it." Yozora was busy pulling out a mattress from under the bed, her face in a slight scowl as usual. Sena sighed. _As if the day couldn't get any worse, now I have to sleep with her.. She's probably going to mock me to sleep.._

_..W-Wait, what am I going to do about my nightly regiment? _

"H-Hey, wait.." Mikazuki turned up from her arrangement. The blonde was panicking on the inside, she could tell. "Why don't we.. _s-share_ a bed?" The former felt her eyebrow twitch as she responded with a harsh "What was that?".

"W-we could.. uh.._ s-share _a bed.."

"Pardon? I do believe you said to _share_?"

The blonde's face had reddened a little more since the start of the conversation, her movements more agitated as well. Thrusting her fists down in anger she cried, "W-Whatever, forget it, alright?!" Her hair twirled around her as she turned to face away in frustration and embarrassment.

_It's not like I needed that regiment anyway! I'm sleeping in a room with her now, and that's an even greater motivation!_

"That's a thoughtful offer you have there, but I'm not buying it."

"H-Huh?!"

Yozora was looking down onto her mattress, making no movements at all. She turned up to look at her companion. "If you really want me to share the bed, then beg for it," she announced, before turning to the mattress set up.

"So that mattress is for me?"

"No- ..Yes."

_?!_

"..Yes, this is where you'll rest your head. In fact I was just helping you set it up," and while she said that, the girl jumbled up the bed, tossing the pillows and bolsters around in a messy manner.

"Liar! You're only messing it up now!"

"So? It's not my problem eventually."

"T-Tccchh!" Sena gritted her teeth painfully, her back against the wall.

"If you want a nice place to rest your head, all you've got to do is ask nicely. Be grateful I have such an offer opened up to you."

_It was my request in the first place- oh, never-mind._

Looking away once more, the blonde muttered, "_Please let me share your bed with you._"

"I couldn't hear you."

"Please let me share your bed with you."

"_Ah_? Did you say something?"

"Please let me share your bed with you!"

"There wasn't any sincerity in that!"

"**Just let me share the bed with you, idiot Yozora!**"

"**Like hell I will after what you just called me!**"

A large gust of wind and a sudden loud 'BANG' interrupted the girls' quarrel, and the man who slammed the door open was Zero, wearing a night overall in blue.

"**Would you keep it down?!**"

"Uh.."

"Muu.."

Silence quickly fell over the room after the male entered.

"Just share the bed already, and we can move you to separate rooms in a few days if you two really want it."

A unanimous "Okay.." fell out of their mouths as they looked down with disappointment. The man sighed and bid them good night, closing the door as if nothing had happened.

"..."

"..I guess I'm sharing the bed with you then."

"..Yeah.."


	10. Bathhouse

As Yozora was busy keeping the mattress she had laid out (and messed up) she found out that the two of them had a map of the floor they were on. A quick trip to the twins' room nearby issued an okay sign for the girls to use the clothing in their room temporarily. Yozora was concerned greatly about hygiene and hung onto the idea of sticking to her own uniform, while Sena couldn't fit into the shirts _for some odd reason_.

And so it was bath time.

Except it wasn't actually private. It was a visit to the public bathhouse with Sen and Ven.

"This is so exciting, isn't it Ven?!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you girls will have a great time in there, or at least I hope so."

"..."

"..."

The team of four were walking through a street at night, and both Sen and Ven were carrying brown cardboard bags with red, yellow and green clothing packed in there. Sen silently looked behind her as she slid her arms behind her head, and muttered to her brother, "Isn't it kind of strange how they aren't talking?"

"I wonder what happened. I think Zero yelled at them or something."

Sena had her eyes cast upon the river that ran along the middle of the street. It was blocked off by green, metal fences, but she kept staring at it, watching the gondolas go by in awe. The red bricked roads with circular patterns kept coming forth as she looked, and the benches and lampposts changed whenever she saw them again. The lights on the water and the gondolas kept her captivated.

_If only I was here with Kobato-chan.. aha~_

Yozora on the other hand kept her eyes in the opposite direction of Meats'. She stared at the different changing buildings that she walked past – a number of bars and restaurants; she would never go hungry with money in hand in this place, different shops also filled the area; some trinkets and clothes, others held priceless furniture – heck, she swore she had seen a shop hiring adventurer services too.

_There's so much to see and do here.. I wonder if there's a bookstore somewhere that I've missed?_

"..You know what, Sen? I think they're perfectly content in thought," Ven replied, after looking back at the girls for a moment.

"Well, your answer sure took a long time. Look, we're already here!" The twins turned into the large wooden building, their followers shocked by the realization of having reached their destination. "And you didn't even bump into anything back then, lucky!"

"So that's the fee for four people, right?"

"Yes, thank you. Ladies on the left, men on the right as usual." The clink of metal signified that the amount required has been paid, and the two foreigners slowly followed behind Sen. Her brother quickly rushed into the male's side. (He muttered something about being caught and deemed a female without proper judgment being passed.)

"So both of you do know how the baths work, right?"

"O-Of course I do! Who wouldn't!" - This came from a proud Sena.

"If it's the same as in our world, then yes, I guess.." - This came from a bashful Yozora.

"Then I'll meet you guys at the baths! See ya!" The girls watched her back fade away into the distance, before turning to each other in spite.

"As if you've been to a public bath house before."

"You're one to talk. You don't go out that much!"

Yozora grinded her teeth in annoyance. "I've been here when the pipes stop working. Not like you've ever encountered the problem before, _since you're rich and all_."

The remark made the blonde flinch a little, and the former smiled devilishly. "You've really never been to a bathhouse before, huh?"

A light blush formed on Sena's cheeks. "S-so what if I haven't? I'll-I'll be totally fine!" As she looked away, she muttered, "Besides, I bet it's the same as back home." Yozora's grin quickly faded into a disgruntled frown as she picked up on what her rival had said. Folding her arms in frustration, she took off in the direction their host had, calling out to Meat, "I'm leaving you behind."

" _So don't you go, no don't you go.._

_Hmm hmm hmm.. "_

The baths were pretty empty to begin with. If anything, there were a few children in there, some of them having animal ears sprouting out of their heads. Having heard the door opening, Sen turned her head to see the duo enter the room.

"Took you guys long enough!" The female had wrapped a towel around herself, and was sitting cross-legged in the bath, arms on a ledge behind her.

"..Tch.." The black-haired girl hugged the towel around her chest even tighter, slowly making her way towards the bath. She was quickly overtaken by the blonde behind her, happily running towards the water in excitement. Their host's eyes widened in fear. "Wait, don't jump into the pool — It's really shallow!"

"I know, I'll be fine!" The girl slowed down as she reached the edge and slowly slid down into the water, sighing in relief as she did. "It's so warm and relaxing! Ahh~"

"How vulgar, letting your chest jiggle out in public like that." In a monotonous voice Yozora spoke out from behind the blonde, hugging herself even tighter than before. She slid down by the spot Sen sat at, slightly further away from Sena's location.

"You're just jealous of me, aren't you?"

"Of you? No way." She let her hands relax by her side as she cooled down in the water. "Who would want males ogling them whenever they took a step?"

"H-Hey! You take that back right now!" The girl lunged up from her sitting position, pointing angrily at her rival.

"I guess the relationship between both of you isn't that good, huh.." Two heads turned towards Sen, who had her knees upright and close to her. As she sat there in thought, she mumbled, "What made you two so aggressive towards each other..?"

And the two girls beside her glanced at each other, before turning to face the other side, obviously feeling upset about the expression. It didn't last very long. Sen soon raised her head quickly, speaking aloud, "When're your birthdays?"

"Huh?"

Yozora folded her arms and, in a highly manner with eyes closed, spoke, "Why should I tell you?" Opening an eye, she continued, staring down at her companions, "Are you going to use it for some fortune telling bullshit?"

"Eeh?! No – I was just curious is all!"

"Yozora, you were like that when we were discussing about the school festival too, huh?"

"What's that to you? Is it wrong that I choose not to disclose personal information?"

"How is your _birthday_ even personal information?!"

And within this debate did Sen gaze over them and sighed softly to herself.

Ven scrambled out of the men's room, coin purse in one hand, his belongings in the other. In a yellow turtle-neck and a red vest for a top, he straightened out his jeans and headed over to the vending machine. Quickly purchasing a bottle of milk, as he heard his drink tumble out of the machine, he heard yelps of anger from the girl's room. He turned his head towards the noise, and three little kids with long, shaggy hair ran out in terror.

"Rudra, are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine."

"Metal, that was so scary!

The boy slowly approached the three girls after picking up his drink, wearing a questioning expression on his face. "E-Excuse me?"

"Huh?" The group of kids turned around to face him. All of them wore a purple singlet and pants, their belly-button exposed, all wearing clogs on their feet. Two of them were brunettes, the one last one was blonde, and the boy squatted down to match their height. He handed them the bottle of milk, and responded, "Would you mind telling me what happened in there? I'll hand you this drink if you tell me."

And the kids smiled at him. The blonde replied, grinning, "Why don't you just look in there yourself, miss?"

Ven just stood there, horrified as the group started giggling at him. He hung his head down in shame.

"Don't worry, we'll tell you anyway!"

"A blonde and two jet-black women!"

"_Pretty!" "It was so loud!"_

"There was conflict between this missy and the other, and the last one followed them around tiredly!"

The boy, still holding his head down, sighed and pushed the bottle of milk in 'Rudra's hands. "Here," he mumbled, looking towards the girls. "Like I promised."

"Really?!"

"Thank you miss!"

"Yeah! Free milk!"

Ven watched them run out of the bathhouse, grimacing a little, before getting up and turning to the entrance of the women's room. Did he dare?

.. No. No he didn't. Not like he could've entered, since at that exact moment the girls were fighting their way out the doorway – Sena and Yozora, to be exact.

"Move, Meat!"

"Why don't you.. Step back first!"

Ven rushed to the side as the girls were pushed out the doorway by a force behind them – Sen. She turned to her brother in an unimpressed fashion and uttered out her annoyance.

"They scared off three little girls, did you see them."

"Y-Yeah.. They were fine after that."

The two foreigners were rubbing their minor bruises as they glared at each other angrily. Sen let out a loud yawn and stretched, letting go of the baggage she was carrying to Ven, who smiled, with droopy eyes.

"It's getting late. Let's just go home."

* * *

**a/n:**

**oh look another few chapters**

**and no traffic werqs;jggjdg'jahgw**

**man, i feel incompetent.**

**speaking of which, vol9's coming out aug 23.**

**sweet.**

**anyone rushing to learn jap for this?**

**i know i am**

**woohoo**

**jk i dont even know where they get the scans from ajse'gjhe'he**


End file.
